That and other bizarre details emerged Wednesday, a day after Monica Berlin, 39, of El Granada, pleaded not guilty to two counts of felony arson and one count of felony evading.

Authorities say Berlin torched more than 1,600 hay bales at the location on June 26 and July 3. At the first fire — and before she was identified as a suspect — she reportedly told firefighters “this was about the zombie apocalypse,” prosecutors said.

Berlin also told a neighbor after the second fire that she burned the hay to “prevent a cult from committing a massacre,” according to prosecutors.

Authorities zeroed in on Berlin and tried to stop her on Highway 92 near Canada Road on Friday. Berlin drove off in her 2004 Volvo station wagon at 100 miles per hour and ended up in Atherton, where she was finally taken into custody, prosecutors said.

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“I have all these police chasing me, and I didn’t do anything illegal, and I didn’t do anything wrong,” she said.

“Oh my God, you guys,” Berlin continued. “Like I was covering this criminal conspiracy with the police department, and now they’re all chasing me, and it’s so scary.”

San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Rosemerry Blankswade said wasn’t aware of any investigation that would corroborate Berlin’s claims of a conspiracy.

The two fires caused nearly $20,000 in damage. Berlin could be sentenced to as much as five years in prison if convicted of the charges, said District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.

This isn’t Berlin’s first brush with the law. Wagstaffe said Berlin has racked up a number of misdemeanors since 1997, ranging from driving with a suspended license to violating restraining orders. But this is the first time she has been charged with a felony.

Jason Green is a breaking news reporter for the Bay Area News Group. He works week nights and spends most of his time covering crime and public safety. A graduate of UC Santa Barbara and the University of Southern California, he cut his teeth at the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin and the Palo Alto Daily News, and has been with the Bay Area News Group since its inception.

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